After a Student Senate vote of 27-2-2 Monday night, no one can challenge the legitimacy of the mythical bird as the student’s official mascot, said Student Senator Casey Driscoll.
The bill will now go to the Chancellor for approval. As of now, the student’s mascot is not that of UW-Eau Claire, according to a university news release Wednesday. The university will continue to use the Blugold nickname.
Driscoll, creator of the mascot, said he owes the credit to the students who took the initiative to make the bird their mascot.
“We created a grassroots movement,” he said. “The students really came forward and took a chance and honestly this wouldn’t have happened if not for them.”
Driscoll said he was surprised at the lack of student and alumni turnout at the Sept. 27 meeting, especially after all the controversy with the surveys last year.
Last year students and alumni showed interest in developing a Blugold mascot.
However, after the mascot committee survey was found unsatisfactory due to its lack of a “none of the above” and “mythical bird” options, Student Senate conducted a new survey that more accurately reflected the views of students.
More than 4,500 students responded, according to the senate survey results, which Driscoll said is likely to be the highest number of responses a campus survey has received. About 79 percent responded as wanting a mascot, and 75 percent of those students wanted the bird.
Senior Emma Grosse voted for the mythical bird survey option and said it is nice to finally have the mascot chosen because the students can finally know what a Blugold is.
“I think he (Driscoll) did a good job of putting the mascot out there because he got the image stuck in our heads,” she said. “It gives us something to connect to and it’s another way to promote our school.”
Senator Jake Bernardy was one of two senators who voted against the mascot, not because he doesn’t like the bird idea but because he said not having a mascot made UW-Eau Claire more unique.
“I have always liked the lack of mascot because it forces people to look at the students,” he said. “However, if we have to have one, it has to be the bird.”
Senior Stephanie Sweeney said she voted to not have a mascot because it leaves more room for interpretation about what a Blugold is, but thinks the bird is a good choice for the students.
“Personally I’d rather not have one but the bird definitely makes more sense than the ox,” she said. “But it’ll be fun to have the mascot at games and I appreciate him being there, getting everyone into the spirit.”
As far as Driscoll is concerned, he said he thinks this is an important milestone for the mascot and the students.
“It started out because I wanted to take a hit at apathy,” he said, “and it worked because the students took a chance and now it really is the student mascot.”
Last year students and alumni showed interest in developing a Blugold mascot. However, after the mascot committee survey was found unsatisfactory due to its lack of “none of the above” and “mythical bird” options, Student Senate conducted a new survey that more accurately reflected the views of the students.
According to the Senate survey, over 4,500 students responded, which Driscoll said is likely to be the highest number of responses a campus survey has received. About 79 percent responded as wanting a mascot with 75 percent of those students wanting the bird.
Senior Emma Grosse voted for the mythical bird option and said is nice to finally have the mascot chosen because the students can finally know what a Blugold is.
“I think he (Driscoll) did a good job of putting the mascot out there because he got the image stuck in our heads,” she said. “It gives us something to connect to and it’s another way to promote our school.”
Senator Jake Bernardy was one of two who voted against the mascot, not because he doesn’t like the bird idea but because he said not having a mascot made UW-Eau Claire more unique.
“I have always liked the lack of mascot because it forces people to look at the students,” he said. “However, if we have to have one, it has to be the bird.”
Senior Stephanie Sweeney said she voted to not have a mascot because it leaves more room for interpretation about what a Blugold is, but does agree the bird is a good choice for the students.
“Personally I’d rather not have one but the bird definitely makes more sense than the ox,” she said. “But it’ll be fun to have the mascot at games and I appreciate him being there, getting everyone into the spirit.”
As far as Driscoll is concerned, he said he thinks this is an important milestone for the mascot and the students.
“It started out because I wanted to take a hit at apathy,” he said, “and it worked because the students took a chance and now it really is the student mascot.”
